The Blessings and Curses of Census Records: Was Francis Wetherill Still Alive?

Posted on February 27, 2017 by Amy

In my last post I described how I found my cousin Marie on the 1900 census. Marie was born August 15, 1888, to Francis M. Wetherill, a driver, and Mary Agnes Wilson, in Philadelphia. Her parents were Philadelphia natives who had married in 1887, and according to Marie’s marriage license for her marriage to my cousin Joe Schlesinger in 1915, her father was deceased by that time.

The 1900 census showed Marie living with her great-grandmother Mary Ann Smith, her grandmother Anne Wilson, her great-uncle Jerry Smith, her mother Mamie Wetherill, and her four siblings: Frank (1883), Florence (1890), Catherine (1893[sic]), and Harry (1897). (Mary Wilson Wetherill is sometimes listed as Mary, sometimes as Mamie.)

Marie Wetherill and family on 1910 census Year: 1900; Census Place: Philadelphia Ward 20, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: 1461; Page: 7A; Enumeration District: 0416; FHL microfilm: 1241461

Marie Wetherill and family on 1900 census
Year: 1900; Census Place: Philadelphia Ward 20, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: 1461; Page: 7A; Enumeration District: 0416; FHL microfilm: 1241461

There was one other odd thing about this census record. The child Frank Wetherill was seventeen on this report and born in 1883. Mamie/Mary Wilson had not married Francis Wetherill until 1887. Was the child Frank really her son?

Then I noticed that although Mamie/Mary reported on the 1900 census that she had only four living children, there were five Wetherill children listed on the census report. I assume therefore that the seventeen year old Frank Wetherill must not have been Mamie/Mary’s biological son.

I did find a birth record for a Frank Wetherell born April 6, 1883, in Philadelphia to a Frank Wittersall [sic, I assume] and Angelina. I assume this was the same child as the one living with Marie’s family in 1900. Francis Wetherill, Mamie/Mary’s husband, must have been married previously, and the younger Frank must have been his son from that marriage. But why had young Frank stayed with his stepmother Mamie/Mary? Had both his biological parents died by 1900?

Now that I had other family names to use in my search parameters, I was able to locate Marie and her family on the 1910 census. Again, the census report had some confusing entries. Anna Wilson, Marie’s grandmother, was a head of household, but there was a second head of household listed beneath her: Harry Pearson. He was 44 and worked as a driver for “stove works.”

Marie Wetherill and family on the 1930 census
Year: 1910; Census Place: Philadelphia Ward 20, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: T624_1394; Page: 5B; Enumeration District: 0342; FHL microfilm: 1375407

I would have thought that these were two unrelated households, but then I saw the other names in Harry’s household. His wife was Mary A., a 44 year old woman who had had six children, five of whom were still living. Listed below her was Marie E. Pearson, a twenty-one year old woman born in Pennsylvania. Although she is listed as a Pearson here, I believe this is my Marie Wetherill. The age fits, the birth place fits, and her mother’s name was Mary (or sometimes Mamie). The listing of Anna Wilson, her grandmother, also supports that assumption.

In addition, two other children listed below Marie had the Wetherill surname, and their ages and names match those of Marie’s siblings from the 1900 census: Florence (20) and Catherine (17). Harry (13), who had been listed as a Wetherill in 1900, here is listed as a Pearson. In addition, there was a new sibling, Annie Pearson, who was only seven years old. My guess is that the enumerator entered Marie’s surname incorrectly; like Florence and Catherine, she should have been listed as Wetherill. In 1910, Marie was working as a saleswoman at Gimbels; her sister Florence was a dressmaker, and her sister Catherine was doing ironing at a laundry.

Occupations listed for Marie and her sisters on the 1930 census

There are a few other confusing things about this census report. The last entry in the household is for Jerrie E. Wilson, a 34 year old man born in Pennsylvania, listed as the son of Harry Pearson. This must be Anna Wilson’s son, not Harry and Mary (Wilson Wetherill) Pearson’s son. (Or maybe it’s really Jerry Smith, Anna’s brother?)

The census record indicates that Mary and Harry Pearson[1] had been married for sixteen years, meaning since 1893 or 1894. That means that Marie was no more than five or six when her mother remarried. But on the 1900 census Mary had not been living with a husband, and her name was still given as Wetherill at that time. I don’t know why Mary was listed as a Wetherill in 1900 nor do I know why her son Harry was listed as a Wetherill in 1900 when he was clearly the son of Harry Pearson and, in fact, his junior. [2] I assume just another enumerator mistake.

Thus, Marie’s mother Mary aka Mamie Wilson Wetherill had remarried by 1894 and had had two more children, Harry, Jr., and Annie, with her second husband Harry Pearson. Why Mary and her children were living without Harry and with her mother and grandmother in 1900 remains a mystery.

I also remain perplexed as to why the seventeen year old boy named Frank Wetherill was living with Marie and her family in 1900. If he was not the biological son of Mamie/Mary Wilson Wetherill Pearson, why wasn’t he living with his biological parents? I’ve had no luck finding the “Angelina” named on the birth record. And I had assumed that Francis, Sr., must have died by 1900, but then I found evidence suggesting otherwise.

First, there is a listing for a Francis M. Wetherill, a driver, in the 1895 Philadelphia directory; this had to be the same man: same exact name, same occupation as that listed on Marie’s birth certificate. But Mary/Mamie had married Harry Pearson before 1895, so Francis was not deceased when she remarried; they must have divorced.

Marie Wetherill birth record

Then I found a marriage record for a Frank Wetherill to a Maggie Schramm in Camden, New Jersey, dated March 18, 1895. Although I could not find them on the 1900 census, the 1910 census for Camden has a listing for a Frank M. Wetherill married to Margaret, aged 31, married for 14 years; this must be the same couple as that on the marriage record. Frank was a hostler in a livery stable on that census.

Frank Wetherill marriage to Maggie Schramm
Ancestry.com. New Jersey, Marriage Records, 1670-1965 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016.

There is also a listing for a Frank Wetherill in the 1902 Philadelphia directory working as a hostler.

As of 1910, Frank Wetherill (the elder) and Maggie/Margaret were living in Camden and had seven children, including a daughter named Katherine, aged 4. How odd that Frank named a daughter Katherine in his second marriage when he already had a daughter Catherine from his first marriage. There was also a daughter named Emma, the same name given to Marie on her birth certificate.

Perhaps this is not the same man who was Marie’s father? Maybe it is just another man with the same name, same age, and also born in Pennsylvania? What do you think? Maybe a cousin? But since I’ve found no death record for any Francis/Frank Wetherill before 1915, I am inclined to think that this was in fact Marie’s father.

Frank Wetherill and family on 1910 census
Year: 1910; Census Place: Camden Ward 5, Camden, New Jersey; Roll: T624_873; Page: 8A; Enumeration District: 0033; FHL microfilm: 1374886

This Frank M. Wetherill remained married to Margaret/Maggie and lived with her and their children in Camden until his death in 1942. If he was in fact Marie’s father, it is rather sad that she either believed or at least considered him dead back in 1915 when she married Joe.

There are many unanswered questions remaining about this family, and I could get buried in searching for more about the two men named Frank/Francis M. Wetherill. I cannot find any later record for the younger Frank Wetherill after the 1900 census (although there was another man born in Philadelphia in 1883 named Francis M. Wetherill, but after researching him, I’ve concluded he was from an entirely different family.) I also remain unsure about whether the Frank Wetherill who married Maggie Schramm was the same Frank Wetherill who had married Mary Wilson and fathered Marie.

But the Wetherills are not my blood relatives, and I’ve unwound enough yarn to get a sense of what Marie Wetherill’s life was like before she married my cousin Joe Schlesinger. So I am making myself stop before I unravel so much yarn that I can’t untie the knots!

Putting together the pieces I now have, it appears that Marie Wetherill Schlesinger did not have an easy childhood. Before she was six years old, either her father had died or her parents had divorced. Her mother remarried and had two more children with her second husband, Harry Pearson. Perhaps her mother started calling the child born Emma Virginia Mary/May by the name “Marie” after starting her life over. One record I found suggests that Francis M. Wetherill’s mother was named Emma; maybe Mary Wilson Wetherill Pearson did not want to carry that name forward.

Marie’s father Francis M. Wetherill may have died, but it seems more likely that he remarried and moved to Camden, where he and his second wife had a large family. Who knows whether Marie had any contact with him after the divorce. Maybe that’s why she reported that he had died.

When she was 27 in 1915, Marie married my cousin Joe Schlesinger and remained married to him until he died in 1936. Then she lived with her mother-in-law Brendena until she died in 1945. Marie was 57 by then. Eventually she retired to Bradenton, Florida where her sister Catherine as well as her half-sister Anna Pierson also were living. Marie had thus remained close not only with the family she married into but also with her family of origin. Despite her interrupted childhood, she is remembered by my father as a loving woman who spent much of her life caring for others.

[1] Some records spell Harry’s surname as Pearson; others as Pierson. I don’t know which is correct. I’ve chosen to use Pearson here just for clarity’s sake.

[2] Three records establish that Harry was the child of Mary/Mamie Wilson and Harry Pearson: a Philadelphia birth record indexed on FamilySearch shows Harry Pearson born on May 20, 1897, son of Harry E. and Mame Pearson; a 1903 baptism record for both Harry, Jr. and Anna Pierson lists their parents as Harry Pierson and Mary A. Pierson; and Harry, Jr.’s military record identifies his parents as Harry Pierson and Mary Wilson.

My Father Wasn’t Wrong

Posted on February 15, 2017 by Amy

In a prior post, I told the story of my father’s first impression of his second cousin Jane Schlesinger whom he met her for the first time when he was a young boy. He thought Jane was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen and told her so. Jane, who was thirteen years older than my father, must have been quite charmed by this little boy, who was quite adorable himself.

John Nusbaum Cohen, Jr.

When I heard the story and wrote the post, I wished that I had a photograph of my cousin Jane. Now, like manna from heaven, I do. I’ve been in touch with one of Jane’s grandchildren, and she sent me these two photographs of Jane and her husband Marvin.

Jane Schlesinger and her husband Marvin Bruner

jane-schlesinger-and-martin-bruner-2-edit

Jane (Schlesinger) and Marvin Bruner

My father was not wrong. She was indeed a stunning woman.

Aunt Dean: A Long and Difficult Life

Posted on February 9, 2017 by Amy

It’s hard to imagine all the losses my great-great-aunt Brendena Katzenstein Schlesinger had already suffered by 1920 when she was 67 years old. She had already lost her parents, one sister and all three of her brothers, her husband, and both of her daughters. Only her sister Hilda and her three sons were still living. She was living with her son Alfred in Philadelphia, and her two other sons, Joe and Sidney, were married and also living in Philadelphia. Brendena had one grandchild, Jane, the daughter of her son Sidney and his wife Nan. Life had not been easy for her, and sadly, she had more heartbreak ahead.

(After reviewing several documents, I concluded that the family’s preferred spelling was Brendena, not Brendina, and have made that adjustment in this post.)

Fortunately, the 1920s did not bring further losses for the family. In fact, 1923 brought two marriages to the family. First, on January 7, 1923, my grandmother Eva Schoenthal, Brendena’s niece, married my grandfather John Cohen and settled in Philadelphia. Eva’s parents were still in Denver at that time, so I would imagine that Eva and Brendena became close to each other as Brendena and her sons were my grandmother’s only maternal relatives in Philadelphia at that time.

Eva Schoenthal and John Cohen, Jr. 1923

Also, in 1923, Alfred Schlesinger married Dorothy D. Steel; he was 44, she was 31. Dorothy was born in Philadelphia on May 16, 1892, the daughter of Clarence Steel and Lurline Oehlschager. Her father, a flour merchant, died from heart failure brought on by typhoid fever in 1899 when Dorothy was only seven. Her mother died seven years later in 1906 from tuberculosis. Dorothy was only fourteen and an orphan. In 1910 she was living with her older married brother Richard and his family and working as a cashier in a department store. Ten years later in 1920 when she was 27, she was a boarder in someone’s home and working as a bookkeeper in an instrument factory.

Then three years later, Dorothy married Alfred Schlesinger. My father remembers Dorothy as a no-nonsense woman who was very independent minded and serious. It’s not surprising, given what her childhood was like. In 1930, Alfred and Dorothy were living in Cheltenham, a suburb of Philadelphia, and Alfred was an advertising executive. My father remembers him as a very successful man who commuted to New York City for work. What he most remembers about Alfred was that he drove a yellow convertible, smoked cigars, and had a gravelly voice. He was also very entertaining.

Alfred and Dorothy (Steele) Schlesinger 1930 US census Year: 1930; Census Place: Cheltenham, Montgomery, Pennsylvania; Roll: 2081; Page: 17A; Enumeration District: 0024; Image: 285.0; FHL microfilm: 2341815

Alfred and Dorothy (Steele) Schlesinger 1930 US census, lines 12 and 13
Year: 1930; Census Place: Cheltenham, Montgomery, Pennsylvania; Roll: 2081; Page: 17A; Enumeration District: 0024; Image: 285.0; FHL microfilm: 2341815

Alfred’s brother Sidney was also quite successful. In 1930, he was an executive manager for a furniture company. He and his wife Nan and daughter Jane as well as Nan’s mother were living on Ruscomb Street in Philadelphia. My father has no memories of Sidney, who died when my father was a young boy, but from photographs he recalled that Sidney was an elegant dresser and had a waxed mustache. My father knew Nan well; in fact, when my parents got engaged, Nan was the first of my father’s relatives to meet my mother, as Nan was living in New York City at that time as were they. My father described Nan as very perceptive about people and as a very self-possessed and good person. He described her as tall and gracious with classic features.

Sidney Schlesinger and family 1930 US census
Year: 1930; Census Place: Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: 2136; Page: 18A; Enumeration District: 1077; Image: 188.0; FHL microfilm: 2341870, lines 59-62

As for Sidney and Nan’s daughter Jane, my dad distinctly recalls his first impression of her, whom he met when he was quite a young boy. Jane, he said, was stunning—she looked like a model. He even recalls what she was wearing—jodhpurs or horseback riding pants. He promptly told her that she was beautiful, even more beautiful than his mother.

Jodhpurs
By Pearson Scott Foresman [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Joe, the oldest Schlesinger brother, was living with his wife Marie and his mother Brendena on 19^th Street in Philadelphia in 1930. Joe was working in retail furniture sales. My father remembers him as a funny man who liked to tell jokes and Marie as a sweet, gentle, and caring woman with an open face and chiseled features.

S. Joseph Schlesinger and family 1930 US census, lines 3-5
Year: 1930; Census Place: Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: 2125; Page: 1A; Enumeration District: 0778; Image: 1013.0; FHL microfilm: 2341859

Although the 1920s had been a good decade for the Schlesinger family, the 1930s brought further heartbreak. Sidney Schlesinger died on December 19, 1935, of rectal cancer and bronchial pneumonia. He was only a few days short of his 55^th birthday. His wife Nan was only 49, and their daughter Jane was 22 when he died, and his mother Brendena had outlived yet another child. Sidney was cremated at the Cheltenham crematorium.

Sidney Schlesinger death certificate
Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission; Pennsylvania, USA; Certificate Number Range: 112501-114537

And then, to compound that heartbreak, four months later Brendena lost another son. S. Joseph Schlesinger died on April 22, 1936, when he was 60 years old. He died from Hodgkin’s disease. Joe was buried at Adath Jeshurun cemetery. He was survived by his wife Marie, who was 46 years old when Joe died. They had had no children.

S. Joseph Schlesinger death certificate
Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission; Pennsylvania, USA; Certificate Number Range: 036501-039500

Brendena had thus outlived four of her five children. Only her son Alfred was still alive as well as her daughters-in-law and her granddaughter Jane. It’s really no wonder that my father recalls Brendena as an unapproachable woman who often said she wished she were dead and that her life was miserable. It’s hard to imagine how she kept going.

Fortunately by then, my great-grandparents Hilda (Katzenstein) and Isadore Schoenthal had moved back to the east coast and were living in Montclair, New Jersey. I would imagine that having her younger sister Hilda nearby must have been of some comfort to Brendena.

Brendena continued to live with her daughter-in-law Marie, Joe’s widow. In 1940, they were living together on Erie Street in Philadelphia. Interestingly, the census enumerator recorded Marie not as Brendena’s daughter-in-law but as her daughter. Brendena was the one who provided the information, and although it might have just been that the enumerator didn’t hear her correctly (my father said she was quite hard of hearing and did not wear hearing aids), I’d like to think that that is how Brendena described her—as her daughter.

Brendena Schlesinger and Marie Wetherill Schlesinger 1940 US census
Year: 1940; Census Place: Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: T627_3733; Page: 2A; Enumeration District: 51-1441

Alfred and Dorothy were still living in Cheltenham in 1940, and Sidney’s widow Nan continued to live with her mother on Ruscomb Street at that time. Her daughter Jane had married and was living in New York in 1940.

The following year on August 17, 1941, Brendena lost her remaining sibling, my great-grandmother Hilda Katzenstein Schoenthal. As I wrote here, my great-grandmother was 77 years old when she died. Brendena was ten years older and had outlived her youngest sibling. My father recalls that there was a resemblance between the two sisters, although Brendena was a larger woman. Since I don’t have any photographs of Aunt Dean, I am including two of my great-grandmother Hilda:

Hilda Katzenstein Schoenthal

Isidore, Hilda (Katzenstein), and Eva Schoenthal

Brendena, the matriarch who had suffered so many losses, herself died at age 91 on January 21, 1945. She was buried with her husband and three of the children who had predeceased her at Adath Jeshurun cemetery.

Brendina Katzenstein Schlesinger death certificate Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission; Pennsylvania, USA; Certificate Number Range: 008251-010950

Brendena Katzenstein Schlesinger death certificate
Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission; Pennsylvania, USA; Certificate Number Range: 008251-010950

Brendena was survived by her one remaining son, Alfred, her granddaughter Jane, and her three daughters-in-law as well as many nieces and nephews. But Alfred did not survive her by many years. He died four years later on March 10, 1949. He was 69 years old and died from multiple myeloma; he also was buried at Adath Jeshurun cemetery.

Alfred Schlesinger death certificate
Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission; Pennsylvania, USA; Certificate Number Range: 024151-026700

His wife Dorothy died two years later at age 59 on November 27, 1951. She died of coronary occlusion, and her body was found in her home. Alfred and Dorothy had not had children, so there were no descendants.

Dorothy Steele Schlesinger death certificate
Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission; Pennsylvania, USA; Certificate Number Range: 095401-097950

Brendena’s two other daughters-in-law lived longer lives. Nan died in New York in July 1975 when she was 89 years old. Marie, who had taken care of her mother-in-law Brendena for nine years after her husband Joe died in 1936, retired to Florida, where she died at age 93 on August 31, 1981.

My great-great-aunt Brendena was the third of six siblings; she outlived them all. She was the mother of five children; she outlived four of them. From those five children, she had one grandchild, her granddaughter Jane. I have just located one of her descendants and am hoping to learn more.

My Great-Great-Aunt Dean: The Story of A Strong Woman

Posted on February 6, 2017 by Amy

Having completed the story of my great-great-uncle S.J. Katzenstein and his family, I am now going to turn to my great-grandmother’s sister, Brendina, who was the third child of Gerson Katzenstein and Eva Goldschmidt and just three years old when the family immigrated to the US.[1] I have been looking forward to writing about Brendina because my father knew her (he refers to her as Aunt Dean, which is how she was known in the family), and he knew some of her children and her granddaughter. He has been able to bring them to life for me in a way that has not been possible with so many of my other ancestors and their families.

As I wrote previously, Brendina was married to Jacob Schlesinger, a butcher who had, like Brendina, emigrated from Germany with his family. Brendina and Jacob had five children: Heloise (1874), Solomon Joseph (known as Joe, born 1875), Alfred (1879), Sidney (1880), and Aimee (1887). As of 1900, they were all still living together in in Philadelphia, and Jacob listed his occupation on the 1900 census as a meat salesman. Their oldest son, Solomon Joseph, was a manager of a laundry, and Alfred was managing a newspaper. Sidney was working as a clerk in a clothing store. The two daughters, Heloise and Aimee, were not employed.

Brendina and Jacob Schlesinger 1900 census
Year: 1900; Census Place: Philadelphia Ward 20, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: 1463; Enumeration District: 0421; FHL microfilm: 1241462

Ten years later, all five children were still living at home, ranging in age from 23 to 35. Jacob had retired, but the three sons were all employed as was the younger daughter, Aimee. Joseph was working as a salesman in a department store as was Sidney, and Alfred and Aimee were both working in advertising—Alfred as a manager, Aimee as a clerk. Heloise was not working outside the home.

Brendina Katzenstein Schlesinger and family
1910 census
Year: 1910; Census Place: Philadelphia Ward 37, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: T624_1407; Page: 10A; Enumeration District: 0912; FHL microfilm: 1375420

The years between 1910 and 1920 were eventful years for the Schlesinger family, some joyful, some quite tragic.

In 1911 Sidney Schlesinger was the first of the Schlesinger children to marry; he married Anna Levis. My father remembers her fondly as his cousin Nan, as she was called. Nan was the daughter of William R. Levis and Caroline Bopp. Her father William, a plumber and son of a bricklayer, was born on December 25, 1860, in Philadelphia. He married Caroline Bopp, daughter of Moritz Bopp, a liquor dealer, on December 25, 1882, in a Methodist church in Philadelphia. Nan was born May 19, 1886, in Philadelphia. Sadly, Nan’s father died on March 15, 1898. He was only 37 years old and died from heart disease. Nan was only eleven years old.

William Levis death certificate
“Pennsylvania, Philadelphia City Death Certificates, 1803-1915,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-678Q-WCM?cc=1320976&wc=9F51-DP8%3A1073236401 : 16 May 2014), > image 1267 of 1772; Philadelphia City Archives

Before marrying Sidney in 1911, Nan had been living with her mother, her uncle, and her grandfather Moritz Bopp. She was working as a stenographer in a bolt factory where her uncle attended the furnace. Nan was 25 when she married Sidney; he was 31. Sidney and Nan had a daughter Jane born on May 13, 1913, in Philadelphia.

Just a few months before Jane was born, the family suffered a loss on February 23, 1913, when Jacob Schlesinger died a few weeks before his seventieth birthday; he died from cerebral softening and myocarditis. He was buried at Adath Jeshurun cemetery in Philadelphia.

Jacob Schlesinger death certificate
Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission; Pennsylvania, USA; Certificate Number Range: 019891-023570

Joe Schlesinger was the second child to marry; on July 11, 1915 he married Marie Wetherill in Philadelphia. My father also has fond memories of his cousin Marie as a very sweet woman who cared for her mother-in-law Brendina for many years. Marie was born on August 15, 1888. She was 27 when she married Joe, and he was 40.

I am sad that I’ve been unable yet to find out anything about Marie’s background or family history. I did find a record of a Philadelphia birth certificate for a child born to a Francis M. Wetherill and his wife May on August 15, 1888, the same date given as Marie’s birth date on the SSDI and the Florida Death Index, but that child’s name was Emma Virginia M. Wetherill. Perhaps the M stood for Marie, but I can’t be sure. Plus when I went to find the Wetherill family on the 1900 census, I could not find them, even though Marie would only have been twelve years old at that time. If anyone has any suggestions for how I might learn more about Marie, please let me know.

On October 29, 1915, the family suffered a terrible loss when Brendina’s oldest child Heloise died at age 41 of complications from diabetes. Heloise had never married or worked out of the house so perhaps she had been suffering from diabetes for a long period of time. Like her father, Heloise was buried at Adath Jeshurun cemetery in Philadelphia.

Heloise Schlesinger death certificate
Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission; Pennsylvania, USA; Certificate Number Range: 102051-105290

As this obituary notes, “Her death caused great sorrow among a large circle of friends.” How very sad this must have been for her family and her friends.

The Philadelphia Jewish Exponent, November 5, 1915, p. 12

Meanwhile, World War I was raging in Europe, and all three of Brendina’s sons registered for the World War I draft. Joe was working for the Pennsylvania Furniture Company as a salesman and an inspector of some kind—can anyone decipher what that says?

S. Joseph Schlesinger World War I draft registration
Registration State: Pennsylvania; Registration County: Philadelphia; Roll: 1907753; Draft Board: 29

Alfred was the secretary of a car advertising company:

Alfred Schlesinger
World War I draft registration
Registration State: Pennsylvania; Registration County: Philadelphia; Roll: 1907753; Draft Board: 29

And Sidney was, like Joe, a furniture salesman but for Stern & Company:

Sidney Schlesinger World War I draft registration
Registration State: Pennsylvania; Registration County: Philadelphia; Roll: 1907952; Draft Board: 43

Given that the three brothers were in their late 30s and early 40s during World War I, I do not believe any of them actually served in the war.

That was probably very fortunate as Brendina had already lost her husband and her daughter in less than three years. But the heartbreak did not end there. On April 20, 1920, the youngest Schlesinger child, Aimee, died of breast cancer at age 33.

Aimee Schlesinger Steinberg death certificate
Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission; Pennsylvania, USA; Certificate Number Range: 043501-046500

Aimee was married to Samuel Steinberg, a Russian immigrant who had immigrated to the US with his parents, Menashe and Deborah, in 1890 when he was just a baby. His father was in the butter and eggs business in Philadelphia in 1900. By 1910 Menashe owned a store in Philadelphia where Samuel and his brother both worked.

When he registered for the World War I draft in June, 1917, Samuel was still single and working as a presser. Thus, he and Aimee could not have been married very long at the time of her death. They were living in Philadelphia with Brendina and her son Alfred in 1920. Samuel was a commercial traveler in the jewelry business at that time.

Aimee Schlesinger Steinberg and family 1920 census

Philadelphia Inquirer April 22, 1920 p. 18

After Aimee died, Brendina was left with her three sons, Joseph, Alfred, and Sidney, who were all living in Philadelphia. As noted above, in 1920 she was living with Alfred, who was still single and was in the advertising business. Joe, like Alfred, was in advertising and living with his wife Marie in 1920. Sidney and Nan were living with their daughter Jane and Nan’s mother Caroline in 1920; Sidney was working as a furniture salesman.

Sidney Schlesinger and family 1920 census
Year: 1920; Census Place: Philadelphia Ward 42, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: T625_1643; Page: 13B; Enumeration District: 1563; Image: 705

Thus, after losing her parents in the 1890s and two of brothers in the 1900s, Brendina lost her husband and two of her daughters (as well as her last surviving brother Jacob) between 1910 and 1920. Her only surviving sibling was my great-grandmother Hilda, who had moved all the way to Denver by 1910. It’s hard to imagine how Aunt Dean endured so many losses. And yet she did, for she lived long enough for my father to have clear memories of her. More on that in my next post.

[1] I am skipping over Jacob Katzenstein for now because I have ordered a book about the Jewish community in Johnstown and am waiting until I’ve read it before I continue the story of his life after the 1889 flood.

After the Flood, More Tears

Posted on January 5, 2017 by Amy

In my last two posts I wrote about the tragedies the Katzenstein family endured in 1889 when Jacob Katzenstein, my great-grandmother Hilda’s brother, lost his son Edwin and his wife Ella (who may also have been related to me through my Goldschmidt line) in the devastating Johnstown flood of May 31, 1889. This post will follow up with the rest of my great-great-grandparents’ family.

Here is a family group sheet for the family of my great-great-grandparents, Gerson Katzenstein and Eva Goldschmidt and their six children, five of whom survived to adulthood.

A little over a year after the flood, on July 22, 1890, my great-great-grandfather Gerson Katzenstein died of dropsy at age 75 in Philadelphia. According to several sources, “dropsy” is an old-fashioned term for edema or swelling of body tissues, whether it’s the brain, the heart, or some other body part or organ. I don’t know what type of edema afflicted Gerson or why it killed him. He was buried at Adath Jeshrun cemetery in Philadelphia.

Gerson Katzenstein death certificate “Pennsylvania, Philadelphia City Death Certificates, 1803-1915,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-68NW-375?cc=1320976&wc=9FR3-SP8%3A1073244201 : 16 May 2014), > image 340 of 1712; Philadelphia City Archives and Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.

In March, 1891, his son Jacob remarried two years after losing his wife and son in the Johnstown flood. Jacob married Bertha Miller, the daughter of Samuel Miller and Eliza Leopold, whom I mentioned here. (As I described, Jacob’s first father-in-law, Marcus Bohm, would later be living with Jacob’s second wife Bertha Miller’s aunt, Minnie Leopold Reineman, in 1910 in Johnstown.) Bertha’s parents were both born in Germany, and her father Samuel was a “merchant tailor” in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, in 1880.

Jacob Katzenstein wedding to Bertha Miller
PHiladelphia Times March 12 1891 p. 3

Bertha and Jacob had a child Helen in 1892, and they had a second child on June 8, 1893, whom they named Gerald, presumably for Gerson Katzenstein, Jacob’s father, my great-great-grandfather. He was not the only grandson named for Gerson. On January 20, 1892, my great-uncle Gerson Schoenthal was born, son of my great-grandparents Hilda Katzenstein and Isidore Schoenthal. In addition, SJ Katzenstein and his wife Henrietta also had a child possibly named for Gerson: Vernon Glyde, born on February 8, 1892.

My great-great-grandmother, Eva Goldschmidt Katzenstein, died on September 6, 1893. She was 66 years old and died of “carcinoma ventric omentum.” According to my medical consultant, today that is called “carcinoma of the ventral omentum, which is a part of the lining of the abdomen near the stomach.”

Eva also had grandchildren named for her, including my grandmother, Eva Schoenthal. Jacob and Bertha’s third child, born December 2, 1894, was also named Eva.

Eva Goldschmidt Katzenstein death certificate “Pennsylvania, Philadelphia City Death Certificates, 1803-1915,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-DY6W-VS?cc=1320976&wc=9FRF-GP8%3A1073237701 : 16 May 2014), > image 1467 of 1730; Philadelphia City Archives and Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.

Jacob and Bertha had two more children by 1900: Leopold (1898) and Maurice (1900). As pointed our earlier, they were living in Johnstown in 1900 with Jacob’s first father-in-law Marcus Bohm and Bertha’s brother Maurice. Jacob was working as a clothing merchant.

Jacob Katzenstein and family 1900 census
Year: 1900; Census Place: Johnstown Ward 1, Cambria, Pennsylvania; Roll: 1388; Page: 12A; Enumeration District: 0124; FHL microfilm: 1241388

SJ Katzenstein and his family were living in Washington, Pennsylvania in 1900, where he was still a clothing merchant as well. Their children were all still at home and at school, except for Howard, who was working as a clerk.

SJ Katzenstein and family 1900 census
Year: 1900; Census Place: Washington, Washington, Pennsylvania; Roll: 1494; Page: 16B; Enumeration District: 0173; FHL microfilm: 1241494

Brendina Katzenstein Schlesinger and her family were still in Philadelphia, and her husband Jacob listed his occupation on the 1900 census as a meat salesman. Their oldest son, Solomon Joseph, was a manager of a laundry, and Alfred was managing a newspaper. Sidney was working as a clerk in a clothing store. The two daughters, Heloise and Aimee, were not employed.

Brendina and Jacob Schlesinger 1900 census
Year: 1900; Census Place: Philadelphia Ward 20, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: 1463; Enumeration District: 0421; FHL microfilm: 1241462

Perry Katzenstein and his wife Rose were also living in Philadelphia where Perry was in the clothing business. They had no children. Rose’s sister Flora Elias was living with them.

Perry and Rose Katzenstein 1900 census
Year: 1900; Census Place: Philadelphia Ward 32, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: 1474; Page: 4A; Enumeration District: 0830; FHL microfilm: 1241474

And, as I’ve written before, my great-grandparents Hilda Katzenstein and Isidore Schoenthal were living in Washington, Pennsylvania, with their two older sons, Lester and Gerson, and my great-grandfather was working in the china business there.

HIlda Katzenstein and Isidore Schoenthal 1900 census Year: 1900; Census Place: Washington, Washington, Pennsylvania; Roll: 1495; Page: 4A; Enumeration District: 0175; FHL microfilm: 1241495

So as the century turned, my great-grandmother Hilda and her siblings had lost both of their parents, but the next generation of the family was growing. As of 1900, there were eighteen grandchildren—my grandmother’s first cousins and brothers— and my great-uncle Harold was born on August 28, 1901, bringing the total to nineteen. My grandmother and one more first cousin were yet to be born. All of them lived in Pennsylvania, spanning from Philadelphia in the east to Washington in the west with family living in Johnstown in between.

But the start of the 20^th century was not very kind to the Katzenstein family. On December 7, 1901, my great-great-uncle SJ Katzenstein died at age 53. He left behind his wife Henrietta and six children, ranging in age from Moynelle, who was 22, to Vernon, who was only nine years old.

Then less than two years later, SJ’s younger brother Perry died. He was just a few days shy of his 47^th birthday. According to his obituary, he had been living in Washington, Pennsylvania, not Philadelphia, at the time of his death. Perhaps he had taken over SJ’s clothing business. Perry died from appendicitis and peritonitis. He was survived by his wife Rose.

Perry Katzenstein obituary Canonsburg PA Daily Notes August 8, 1903 p.2

But Rose did not last very long without him. While visiting her sister in Chicago on February 24, 1904, she took her own life. Her death was ruled a suicide, strangulation by hanging. Perry’s death must have been too much for her to bear.

Rose Elias Katzenstein death certificate “Pennsylvania, Philadelphia City Death Certificates, 1803-1915,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-67QH-3T?cc=1320976&wc=9F5B-VZS%3A1073109202 : 16 May 2014), > image 232 of 538; Philadelphia City Archives and Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.

Rose Elias Katzenstein obituary
Williamsport Sun-Gazette, February 26, 1904, p. 5

Thus, by February, 1904, my great-grandmother Hilda had lost her parents, two of her three brothers, two nephews, and two sisters-in-law. She also had her fourth and last child that year, my grandmother Eva, who was born on March 4, 1904, shortly after Rose’s death.

Eva Schoenthal Cohen, my grandmother

Jacob Katzenstein and his second wife Bertha also had their final child in 1904; he was born in August 1904 and was named Perry, obviously for Jacob’s brother Perry who had died the year before.

My great-great-grandparents Gerson and Eva (Goldschmidt) Katzenstein were thus survived by 21 grandchildren, including my grandmother Eva. In posts to come, I will share their stories.

For now, I will be taking a short break from research, but will be sharing some of the photographs and records I’ve received but have not yet had a chance to post.

Who Was Ella Bohm Katzenstein? A Genealogy Adventure

Posted on January 2, 2017 by Amy

This was truly a genealogy adventure. I’d written most of this post before I made two surprising discoveries that required me to rewrite substantial parts of it. The story of Jacob Katzenstein’s first wife Ella is heartbreaking. She was only 27 when she died in the 1889 Johnstown flood, and for a long time I knew almost nothing about her. I’ve finally made some headway in learning more about her.

Here’s what I now know about her from various sources, more or less in the order I found them. Her first name was Ella, as seen from the birth record indexed on FamilySearch for her son, Milton B. Katzenstein.

Her birth surname was Bohm, as seen in a newspaper report of her death and as implicitly confirmed by the fact that Milton’s middle name was Bohm; that fact I learned from Milton’s burial record at Grandview Cemetery in Johnstown.

Philadelphia Jewish Exponent,, June 7, 1889, p. 3

I know that Ella was probably born in February 1862, as indicated on the memorial stone placed at Eastview Cemetery in Cumberland, Maryland. Her father’s name was apparently Marcus Bohm; that fact I inferred from the fact that Ella’s widower Jacob Katzenstein included Marcus in his household on the 1900 census and described him as his father-in-law (even though by that time Jacob had remarried). Ella presumably married Jacob sometime before or around January, 1886, since their son Milton was born in September, 1886. Milton died on April 18, 1889. I also know that a second child, Edwin, was born June 5, 1887, and that he and Ella were killed in the Johnstown flood on May 31, 1889.

But where was Ella before marrying Jacob and having these two little boys?

For the longest time, I could not find her on the 1870 census, no matter how many ways I tried to spell her name, with and without wildcards. And then somehow she popped up after I’d just about given up. I decided to search for any Ella with a surname starting with Bo born anywhere in about 1862 living in Pennsylvania or any state bordering it. And there she was, listed as Ella Bohn, living in Philadelphia, an eight year old child born in Pennsylvania. Her father was not living with her, nor was there anyone else in the household named Bohn or Bohm. So who was she living with?

Ella Bohm (Bohn) on the 1870 census
Year: 1870; Census Place: Philadelphia Ward 12 District 36, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

I took a deep breath when I saw. She was living with Jacob Goldsmith. Who was he? The son of Simon Goldschmidt and Fradchen Schoenthal. Simon Goldschmidt was the brother of my three-times great-grandfather Seligmann Goldschmidt, the father of Eva Goldschmidt Katzenstein, whose son Jacob would later marry Ella Bohm. And Fradchen Schoenthal was the sister of my three-times great-grandfather Levi Schoenthal, father of Isidore Schoenthal who would later marry Hilda Katzenstein, daughter of Eva Goldschmidt Katzenstein and brother of Jacob Katzenstein, who would later marry Ella Bohm.

So little Ella Bohm was for some reason living with the first cousin, once removed, of her future husband Jacob Katzenstein. And with in-law relatives of her future sister-in-law, Hilda Katzenstein, my great-grandmother. And they were all related to me. Yikes.

But where was her father? Why wasn’t Ella living with him? Why was she living with Jacob Goldsmith? Unfortunately, the 1870 census did not include information about the relationships among those in a household, so I couldn’t tell.

A search for information about Ella’s father Marcus Bohm turned up nothing explicit connecting him to Ella, though I was able to piece together some information about Marcus. He was born November 9, 1834, in Warsaw, Poland, and immigrated to the United States in 1849, arriving in Baltimore.

Maryland, Baltimore Passenger Lists, 1820-1948,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-897J-P6W?cc=2018318&wc=MKZ4-GPF%3A1004777901%2C1004778901 : 25 September 2015), 1820-1891 (NARA M255, M596) > image 404 of 688; citing NARA microfilm publications M255, M596 and T844 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

One document indicates that he was living in Washington, Pennsylvania, in 1853, which, of course, is where many members of my extended family also settled, including Jacob Goldsmith, who was a clothing merchant there as early as 1850, and Jacob Katzenstein’s brother SJ, who arrived around there in about 1871.

It appears that Marcus Bohm owned a clothing store there from at least 1853 from ads I found online in the Washington newspaper. There was a fire at his store in April, 1860:

Washington Reporter, April 12, 1860, p. 3

I also found an advertisement for Marcus Bohm’s clothing store in the Washington Reporter of August 30, 1860 (p.3):

But by November, 1860, Marcus was closing down his Washington store:

It seems he then left Washington, Pennsylvania, because according to a New Jersey index of the 1860 census, Marcus was living in Hudson Township, New Jersey, in 1860, although I cannot find him on the actual 1860 census records. He is listed in the 1867 Trenton, New Jersey, directory as working in the clothing business and living at Madison House. On the 1870 census, he is listed as living in a hotel in Trenton and working as a clothier. There is no wife or child living with him.

Marcus continued to be listed in Trenton city directories in the 1870s up through 1876, and he is consistently listed as a clothing merchant and tailor and living in various hotels in Trenton. But in 1878, he declared bankruptcy in Trenton:

Why was his daughter Ella living with the Goldsmiths in Philadelphia in 1870 and not with her father in Trenton? I decided to dig deeper into the background of Jacob Goldsmith, someone I had not yet really researched as I am (ahem) not yet focused on my Goldschmidt line (yet somehow they keep popping up everywhere). I searched for him on the 1880 census, and this is what I found:

Jacob Goldsmith’s family on 1880 census with Ella “Baum”
Year: 1880; Census Place: Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: 1173; Family History Film: 1255173; Page: 158D; Enumeration District: 210; Image: 0325

Jacob, Fanny, and their many children were living in Philadelphia, and living with them was a niece named Ella Baum, age 17. This had to be Ella Bohm, who would have been turning 18 in 1880. She was living with Jacob and Fanny Goldsmith because she was their niece! So her mother had to be either Fanny’s sister or Jacob’s sister. For reasons described below, I believe she was the daughter of Jacob’s sister Eva.

Jacob had several sisters, but for all but one, I’d found married names, and they had not married Marcus Bohm. But there was one sister for whom I’d been unable to find anything more than her name on the passenger manifest with her father Simon and stepmother Fradchen in 1845 and her listing on the 1850 census with her father Simon and stepmother Fanny and several siblings. Her name was Eva Goldschmidt/Goldsmith.

Simon, Fradchen, and Eva Goldschmidt on 1845 passenger manifest
The National Archives at Washington, D.C.; Washington, D.C.; Records of the US Customs Service, RG36; NAI Number: 2655153; Record Group Title: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1787-2004; Record Group Number: 85

On the 1850 census, the names seem confused. It shows Simon’s wife’s name as Lena. Her name was Fradchen or Fanny in the US. Simon had a daughter Lena, who is also listed on the census. And then there is a daughter named Fanny. I think that daughter was really Eva, and the enumerator somehow thought Fanny was the daughter’s name instead of the wife and heard “Lena” instead of “Eva” for the other daughter’s name and thought that was the wife’s name. (Remember these were recent immigrants whose English might not have been very understandable.)

Simon Goldschmidt and family 1850 census
Year: 1850; Census Place: Pittsburgh Ward 3, Allegheny, Pennsylvania; Roll: M432_745; Page: 135A; Image: 274

But Eva is not listed as living with Simon in 1860 when he and two of her younger half-siblings had moved to Washington, Pennsylvania, to live with her older brother Jacob. So where was she then? I don’t know, but here’s my theory.

My guess is that Marcus Bohm and Eva Goldsmith, Jacob’s sister, were married sometime around 1860. After their daughter Ella Bohm was born in 1862, Eva either died in childbirth or sometime shortly thereafter and before 1870. Supporting the theory that Eva had died is the fact that her brother Jacob named a child born in 1871 Eva.

I believe that Ella’s widowed father Marcus Bohm moved to New Jersey after losing his wife and his business in Washington, and he left his little daughter to be raised by her uncle, Jacob Goldsmith. That little girl then grew up and married Jacob Katzenstein, who was her second cousin.

I don’t know when she married Jacob. I cannot find Jacob or Ella on the 1880 census, although Jacob was listed in the Pittsburgh directories for 1879 and 1881, the Johnstown directory in 1884, both the Philadelphia and Johnstown directories for 1887, and the Johnstown directory in 1889. When their son Milton was born in 1886, Jacob and Ella must have been living in Philadelphia. And by 1889 they were living in Johnstown.

Where was Ella’s father Marcus in the 1880s? The 1880 census report shows that he was then living in Washington, Pennsylvania, boarding in a hotel there and working in a clothing store. But by 1884, Marcus had moved to Johnstown, as the 1884 Johnstown directory lists Marcus living at 251 Main Street and working at 272 Main Street in the clothing business. That same directory lists Jacob Katzenstein as a commercial traveler living at 241 Main Street, just a few houses away from Marcus. I assume that Marcus moved to Johnstown because his daughter Ella had by that time married Jacob and was living there, but I don’t know for sure.

After the tragic deaths of his daughter Ella and his two grandsons Milton and Edwin in 1889, Marcus seemed to disappear for some years and does not appear in any city directories. The next record that does include Ella’s father Marcus is the 1900 census where, as noted above, he was living in Johnstown with Jacob Katzenstein and Jacob’s second wife Bertha Miller, their three children, Bertha’s brother Maurice, and a servant. Marcus is described as Jacob’s father-in-law, widowed, and retired.

Jacob Katzenstein and family 1900 census
Year: 1900; Census Place: Johnstown Ward 1, Cambria, Pennsylvania; Roll: 1388; Page: 12A; Enumeration District: 0124; FHL microfilm: 1241388

I find it rather heartwarming that Bertha Miller took in the father of Jacob’s first wife.

Ten years later Marcus was still living in Johnstown, boarding in the household of Solomon Reineman, according to the 1910 census. I thought perhaps Solomon was a relative or married to a relative, but Solomon was born in Germany, not Poland. In 1880, Solomon had been living in Johnstown, so I assume that Marcus had become friendly with him during the 1880s when both were living in Johnstown.

And then I found a connection to Solomon’s wife, Minnie Leopold, though not directly. While researching Jacob’s second wife, Bertha Miller, I saw that her mother was named Eliza Leopold. The name jumped out at me, and I thought—could there be a connection to Minnie Leopold? A few more steps of research, and lo and behold, I learned that Eliza and Minnie Leopold were sisters! So somehow Marcus Bohm ended up living with his son-in-law’s second wife’s aunt and her husband.

Two years later, however, Marcus had moved to Philadelphia. The 1912 Philadelphia directory lists Marcus Bohm living at 3333 North Broad Street. Four years later on February 25, 1916, Marcus died in Philadelphia. He was 81 years old and died of chronic emphysema.

Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission; Pennsylvania, USA; Certificate Number Range: 021751-024880

He’d been living at the Masonic Home of Pennsylvania, and the informant was William H. Sivel, the superintendent at 3333 North Broad Street, which I assume is the location of the Masonic Home and where Marcus had been residing. There is no other personal information on the certificate except for Marcus Bohm’s birth date, birth place (Poland), age, and occupation, which the informant described as “gentleman.” I was unable to find an obituary or any other document that would reveal family information for Marcus, only this death notice.

Philadelphia Inquirer, February 26, 1916, p. 18

Thus, I was lucky enough to learn a little more about Ella Bohm Katzenstein and can only speculate that her mother was Eva Goldsmith, that Eva Goldsmith Bohm had died, and that Ella had been left to live with the family of Jacob Goldsmith while her father tried to recover from losing his wife and his store in Washington, Pennsylvania.

If I am right in this speculation, it makes her short life even more tragic. It was heartbreaking enough to know that she’d lost her first son Milton and then was killed along with her other son in the Johnstown flood of 1889 when she was only 27. But adding to that the loss of her mother and in some ways her father as a young child makes her story especially poignant.

Of Rabbit Holes and Twisted Trees and the Curse of Endogamy

Posted on December 26, 2016 by Amy

Now that I have emerged from the Mansbach rabbit hole I dove into weeks ago, I can return to the story of my direct ancestors, Gerson Katzenstein and Eva Goldschmidt and their children, including my great-grandmother Hilda Katzenstein. As I wrote previously, Gerson was one of eight children of Scholum Katzenstein, including four full siblings, two of whom died as children, and three half-siblings, one of whom died as a child. As best I can tell Gerson was the only one of the eight to leave Germany and come to the United States.

Gerson and Eva were married in Oberlistingen in June 1847, and then settled in Gerson’s home town of Jesberg, where they had three children: Scholum (1848, named for Gerson’s father), Jacob (1851), and Brendina (1853, named for Gerson’s mother, Breine Blumenfeld).

Marriage record of Gerson Katzenstein and Eva Goldschmidt HHStAW fonds 365 No 673, Arcinsys Hessen

Gerson and Eva immigrated to the US in 1856 with Scholum, Jacob, and Brendina. A fourth child Perry was born a few months after they had settled in Philadelphia. In 1858, they had a fifth child, Hannah, and in 1860 they were all living in Philadelphia where Gerson was working as a salesman. As noted in an earlier post, there were three others living in the household, Abraham “Anspach,” who I believe was actually Abraham Mansbach (III), David Frank, a bookkeeper, and Marley Mansbach, who I believe was Abraham Mansbach’s cousin and only related to Gerson through his sister Hannchen’s marriage into the Mansbach family.

Gerson Katzenstein in the 1856 Philadelphia directory

Gerson Katzenstein and family 1860 US census
Year: 1860; Census Place: Philadelphia Ward 13, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: M653_1163; Page: 519; Image: 105; Family History Library Film: 805163

On August 17, 1863, Gerson and Eva had their sixth and final child, my great-grandmother Hilda.

The family suffered a terrible loss on December 17, 1866, when their eight year old daughter Hannah died from scarlet fever. She was buried at Adath Jeshurun cemetery in Philadelphia. I have to wonder what impact that had on the family, especially little three year old Hilda, who must have been very frightened and confused.

Hannah Katzenstein death certificate
“Pennsylvania, Philadelphia City Death Certificates, 1803-1915,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-DTXQ-JWY?cc=1320976&wc=9FRX-W38%3A1073285701 : 16 May 2014), > image 316 of 1079; Philadelphia City Archives and Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.

In 1870, Gerson and Eva were living with their five surviving children. Scholum was listed as Joseph and was 22; Jacob was 18, Brendina 15, Perry 14, and Hilda was seven. The 1870 census was taken twice because there were felt to be errors in the first enumeration. For the Katzenstein family, the first enumeration is barely legible and is missing some of the children, but indicates that Gerson was working as a clerk in a store. The second enumeration is quite clear and includes all the children, but has no information about occupations.

Gerson Katzenstein on 1870 census, first enumeration Year: 1870; Census Place: Philadelphia Ward 16 District 48, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Gerson Katzenstein and family 1870 census, second enumeration Year: 1870; Census Place: Philadelphia Ward 16 Dist 48 (2nd Enum), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: M593_1429; Page: 708B; Image: 258; Family History Library Film: 552928

Brendina Katzenstein, the oldest daughter and third child of Gerson and Eva, was the first to marry. According to the 1900 census, she married Jacob Schlesinger in 1871 when she was only eighteen years old. It took some serious digging and the help of the German Genealogy Facebook group to find some background on Jacob. First, from his death notice, I saw that he was born in “Epplagan” in Germany.

Nick in the German Genealogy group figured out that that was Eppingen. I then searched the Landesarchiv for Baden Wurttemburg and found Jacob’s birth record, which Nick helped me translate:

Jacob Schlesinger birth record from Eppingen, Landesarchiv Baden-Wurtenberg, 390 Nr. 1320, 1 Band Gliederungssymbol Eppingen, israelitische Gemeinde: Standesbuch 1811-1870 Bild 235

The child was born on March 3rd, 1843 and named Jacob. The father was Jacob (?) Schlesinger, a schützbürger (see note below) and hand[e]lsmann (merchant) and his wife Guste? born Sülzberger.

[UPDATE: Thanks to Dorothee Lottmann-Kaeseler for explaining the word “schutzburger” and providing a cite with this explanation: The “Law on the Situation of the Jews” (“Gesetz über die Verhältnisse der Juden”) from 1809 recognized the Jewish religious community as a church. Constitutionally, Jews were to be treated as free citizens. Their position in the municipalities did not change however, they remained only “protected citizens” (“Schutzbürger”) who did not have the right to be elected to a local council and did not have rights of usage of the common land.]

Nick wasn’t sure whether Jacob’s father’s name was Jacob, and I was skeptical of the fact that his father would also have been a Jacob. Looking at the record itself, it certainly looks like “Jacob” was crossed out and something else was written over it. Perhaps the scribe who entered the record confused the child’s name and the father’s name.

Although I could not find Jacob Schlesinger on any US census record before 1880, I was able to locate him in a number of Philadelphia directories where he was living at the same address with men named Abraham, Israel, and Myer Schlesinger, all of whom, like Jacob, were working as butchers. I assumed these were his relatives, and so I searched for information about them.

I found a passenger manifest that shows an Israel Schlesinger and his family arriving in the US in 1860; along with Israel was his wife Gustel or Gurtel, sons Maier (26) and Abraham (11), and two daughters, Fanny (20) and Malchen (15). There was no son named Jacob on this manifest.

Family of Israel Schlesinger 1860 ship manifest
Year: 1860; Arrival: New York, New York; Microfilm Serial: M237, 1820-1897; Microfilm Roll: Roll 205; Line: 1; List Number: 918
Description
Ship or Roll Number : Roll 205
Source Information
Ancestry.com. New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957

Then I found another manifest listing a fourteen year old named Jacob Schlesinger arriving in 1857 with what appears to be an older sibling named Hagar. Since my Jacob Schlesinger reported on the 1910 census that he’d arrived in 1857 (and in 1855 according to the 1900 census) and he would have been fourteen in 1857, I assumed that this was the right Jacob. Further research uncovered a Hagar Schlesinger, a woman of the right age, who was living in Philadelphia in 1885, so she was probably his sister.

Jacob and Hagar Schlesinger 1857 ship manifest
Year: 1857; Arrival: New York, New York; Microfilm Serial: M237, 1820-1897; Microfilm Roll: Roll 173; Line: 1; List Number: 497

But I still had no proof that this Jacob was the son of Israel Schlesinger. He could have been just a nephew or a cousin. So I searched for a birth record for one of Israel’s sons and found this one for Myer, as translated by Nick:

Myer Schlesinger birth record
landesarchiv_baden-wuerttemberg_generallandesarchiv_karlsruhe_390_nr-_1320_bild_174_4-1128670-174.jpg

The child was born June 4th, 1834, named Mozes and the parents are Israel Schlesinger and Geitel Si?lzberger.

Myer was also the son of Geitel Sulzberger and Israel (not Jacob) Schlesinger. Looking back at Jacob’s birth record, it does seem that “Israel” was written over “Jacob” and that thus Jacob’s father was also Israel Schlesinger. I also found a birth record for Hagar Schlesinger; she also was the daughter of Israel and Geitel.

Thus, I feel fairly comfortable concluding that my Jacob Schlesinger was a son of Israel Schlesinger from Eppingen, especially since he and Israel were living at the same address in 1865, according to the Philadelphia directory for that year. In addition, Jacob, like Israel, Myer, and Abraham, was a butcher in Philadelphia, as seen in numerous entries in the Philadelphia city directories as well as census reports.

Brendina and Jacob Schlesinger had three children listed on the 1880 census: Heloise (5), Solomon (4), and Alfred (1). Jacob was still working as a butcher. Brendina and Jacob would have a fourth child, Sidney, in 1880, and a fifth, Aimee, born in 1887.

Jacob and Brendina Schlesinger and family
1880 census
Year: 1880; Census Place: Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: 1176; Family History Film: 1255176; Page: 156A; Enumeration District: 301; Image: 0314

The 1870s were also active years for Brendina’s three brothers. The oldest brother, Scholum Joseph, had lived in many places since coming with his family to the US. An 1896 profile of him reported that he had left his family for Leavenworth, Kansas, when he was fourteen to learn how to be a cigar maker, but since he did not arrive until he was eighteen in 1856, that seems more myth than truth. The profile goes on to state that after being in Kansas for a number of years, he returned to Philadelphia, but eventually gave up the cigar trade because of health concerns. The article continues by saying that he then “went to Winchester, VA., and took a clerkship, remaining for five years. Thence he went to Uhrichsville, Ohio, thence to New Castle and on the nineteenth of April 1871, he came to Washington [Pennsylvania].” “The Saturday Evening Supper Table,” Washington, Pennsylvania, June 27, 1896, found here (my cousin Roger Cibella’s genealogy website).

The U.S. and Canada, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s, database on Ancestry, confirms that by 1873, Scholum, also known as S.J. or Joseph Katzenstein, had moved to Washington, Pennsylvania. That is, he moved to the small town in western Pennsylvania where his mother’s uncle Simon Goldschmidt and his children were living at that time. Readers with excellent memories may recall that Simon Goldschmidt was married to Fanny Schoenthal, my great-grandfather Isidore Schoenthal’s sister. By 1881 Isidore was also living in Washington, Pennsylvania.

S.J.’s move to Washington, Pennsylvania, may have had long lasting repercussions for my family, as I am fairly confident that he was the one who engineered the introduction of his younger sister, my great-grandmother Hilda, to Isidore Schoenthal, my great-grandfather.

The Daily Republican
(Monongahela, Pennsylvania)
11 Aug 1887, Thu • Page 4

S.J Katzenstein married Henrietta Sigmund in 1875. Henrietta was born in 1851 in Baltimore to Ella Goldschmidt and Albert Sigmund. That added yet another twist to my family tree because Ella Goldschmidt was the daughter of Meyer Goldschmidt whose brothers were Seligmann Goldschmidt, father of Eva Goldschmidt Katzenstein, and Simon Goldschmidt, husband of Fanny Schoenthal. In other words, Eva Goldschmidt Katzenstein was Ella Goldschmidt Sigmund’s first cousin, meaning that S.J. Katzenstein married his maternal second cousin, Henrietta Sigmund.

But let me stay focused on the Katzensteins rather than diving into the Goldschmidt rabbit hole.

S.J. and Henrietta, who was also known as Dot or Dottie, had a daughter Moynelle in 1879. S.J., who is listed as Joseph on the 1880 census, was working as a clothing merchant in Washington, Pennsylvania. He and Henrietta would have five more children: Milton (1881), Howard (1882), Ivan (1884), Earl (1885), and Vernon (1892).

S. Joseph Katzenstein and family 1880 census
Year: 1880; Census Place: Washington, Washington, Pennsylvania; Roll: 1202; Family History Film: 1255202; Page: 577A; Enumeration District: 270

S.J. was not the only child of Gerson and Eva Katzenstein to leave Philadelphia for western Pennsylvania in the 1870s. In 1878, Perry Katzenstein, the third brother, was listed in the Pittsburgh directory as a clerk; the following year his brother Jacob joined him. Both were living at 25 Second Avenue and working as salesmen. Although I cannot find either of them on the 1880 census, both were listed in the 1881 Pittsburgh directory, still working as salesmen and still living together, though now at 188 Wylie Avenue. (Perry also appears in the 1880 directory, but Jacob does not.)

As for their parents and little sister Hilda, they were still living in Philadelphia in 1880. Gerson continued to work as a clerk in a store. Living with them, in addition to a number of boarders, was Louis Mansbach, listed as Gerson’s nephew, age 31, and born in “Prussia.” At first I thought this was Louis Mansbach, son of H.H. Mansbach, who would have been Gerson’s great-nephew. But that Louis Mansbach was far too young and born in the US. So who was this Louis Mansbach?

Year: 1880; Census Place: Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: 1173; Family History Film: 1255173; Page: 274B; Enumeration District: 219; Image: 0561

Well, remember that post where I was trying to sort out all the different men named Abraham Mansbach? One of them, whom I called Abraham II, was the son of Leiser Mansbach and grandson of Abraham Mansbach I. Abraham II was the brother of Marum Mansbach who married Hannchen Katzenstein, Gerson Katzenstein’s half-sister. And Abraham II had a son in 1849 who was named for his grandfather: Leiser Mansbach II. He was therefore the nephew of Marum Mansbach and Hannchen Katzenstein. Leiser became Louis, and he was living with Gerson and Eva Katzenstein in 1880, working as a veterinary surgeon.

And so you might be thinking, “Well, he wasn’t Gerson’s nephew. He was Gerson’s brother-in-law’s nephew.” And you might be thinking, “Perhaps Gerson was just being liberal in using the term ‘nephew.’”

But, alas, it’s not that simple. Once again there is a twist in the tree. Louis Mansbach’s mother was Sarah Goldschmidt, Eva Goldschmidt’s sister. So Louis Mansbach was in fact Eva Goldschmidt Katzenstein’s nephew as well as Gerson’s brother-in-law’s nephew.

And on that confusing note, I am going to go get a breath of fresh air and curse the endogamy gods who make using DNA results so utterly pointless in my family research.

After the Civil War: Did the Mansbach Family Come Together?

Posted on November 28, 2016 by Amy

As we saw in my last post, two of the nephews of my great-great-grandfather Gerson Katzenstein fought on opposite sides of the Civil War. Abraham Mansbach served (albeit briefly) in the Union army whereas his younger brother Heinemann, aka Henry or Harry or H.H. Mansbach, fought for the Confederacy. I thought it would be worthwhile to research their post-Civil War lives to see if I could learn what effect, if any, this had on their relationship.

After being injured twice fighting in the Confederate army, H.H. Mansbach settled in Piedmont, West Virginia, where he became a dry goods merchant. By 1868, H.H. had married Nannie Hirsch, who was born in Germany and whose parents had settled in Cumberland, Maryland, which is about 25 miles from Piedmont, West Virginia. In 1870, Nannie’s parents were still living in Cumberland, Maryland, where her father was a merchant. As of 1870, H.H. and Nannie had two children, Louis, born in 1868, and Hattie, born in 1869.

H.H. Mansbach and family 1870 US census
Year: 1870; Census Place: Piedmont, Mineral, West Virginia

Where was the rest of the Mansbach family during this time period? H.H.’s sister Henrietta was, by 1861, living in the United States and married to Gabriel Gump, who was also a German immigrant. By July 1862, they had settled in Morris, Illinois, where their first child Abraham was born. In June 1863 with the Civil War going on, Gabriel, a saloon keeper, registered for the draft in Illinois, so he was on the Union side of the war, opposing Henrietta’s brother H.H.

Gabriel Gump
Civil War draft registration
National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington, D.C.; Consolidated Lists of Civil War Draft Registration Records (Provost Marshal General’s Bureau; Consolidated Enrollment Lists, 1863-1865); Record Group: 110, Records of the Provost Marshal General’s Bureau (Civil War); Collection Name: Consolidated Enrollment Lists, 1863-1865 (Civil War Union Draft Records); NAI: 4213514; Archive Volume Number: 2 of 5

By 1870, Gabriel and Henrietta had moved to Cumberland, Maryland; they had three children at that time, Abraham (7), Louis (6), and Harry (2), all born in Illinois. Also living with them by that time was Henrietta’s father, Marum Mansbach, who had emigrated from Germany on August 6, 1864.[1]

Marum Mansbach on passenger manifest 1864
Staatsarchiv Hamburg; Hamburg, Deutschland; Hamburger Passagierlisten; Microfilm No.: K_1710

Gabriel Gump and family
1870 US census
Year: 1870; Census Place: District 6, Allegany, Maryland

Thus, in 1870, H.H. Mansbach’s sister Henrietta and father Marum were living in Cumberland, Maryland, the same town where H.H.’s in-laws were living and where his wife Nannie had lived herself before marrying H.H. in 1868. I find it hard to believe that this was just coincidence and thus take it as a sign that H.H. still had a relationship with his family despite the fact that he’d fought for the Confederacy while his brother Abraham and his brother-in-law Gabriel had been on the side of the Union.

Cumberland, Maryland, where the Gump, Mansbach, and Hirsch families were living in 1870. English: {City of Cumberland, http://www.ci.cumberland.md.us} Category:Images of Cumberland (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

As for Abraham Mansbach, brother of H.H. and Henrietta, he had married Eliza Gump in Philadelphia on January 6, 1861. Eliza was the younger sister of Gabriel Gump, husband of Abraham’s sister Henrietta. Abraham and Eliza had a daughter Mollie, born in October 1866. I was unable to locate them on the 1870 census, but in 1873, they were living in Baltimore where Abraham was engaged in the wholesale liquor business.

Marriage record for Abraham Mansbach and Eliza Gump
Historical Society of Pennsylvania; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Collection Name: Historic Pennsylvania Church and Town Records; Reel: 792
Description
Organization Name : Congregation Rodeph Shalom

Thus, in some way the Hirsch-Mansbach-Gump families were all interconnected by marriage and/or geography. Henrietta (Mansbach) and Gabriel Gump were living in the same town as HH Mansbach’s in-laws in 1870. Abraham Mansbach was married to Gabriel Gump’s sister. Perhaps they all knew each other from the “old country” or perhaps they’d all just met after immigrating to the US. But it certainly seems that at a minimum, H.H. had not been banished from the family since he somehow ended up marrying the daughter of his sister’s neighbors in Cumberland.

Between 1870 and 1880, the families of the Mansbach siblings grew. H.H. and Nannie had five more children in that decade: George (1871), Fannie (1873), Charles (1875), Bertha (1876), and Isaac (1879). Thus, by 1880, there were seven children in the family; they were still living in Piedmont, West Virginia, where Harry continued to work as a merchant.

HH Mansbach and family
1880 US census
Year: 1880; Census Place: Piedmont, Mineral, West Virginia; Roll: 1408; Family History Film: 1255408; Page: 152C; Enumeration District: 034

By 1880, Henrietta and Gabriel Gump were no longer living in Cumberland, Maryland. They had moved to Baltimore where Gabriel was now in the liquor business with his brother-in-law Abraham Mansbach. Henrietta and Gabriel now had four sons: Abraham (17), Louis (16), Harry (12), and Joseph (9). Marum Mansbach was still living with them as well.

Gabriel Gump and family
1880 census
Year: 1880; Census Place: Baltimore, Baltimore (Independent City), Maryland; Roll: 501; Family History Film: 1254501; Page: 290C; Enumeration District: 121; Image: 0760

Abraham Mansbach, brother of Henrietta and H.H., was still living in Baltimore in 1880, working in the liquor business with Gabriel, as stated above. Abraham and his wife Eliza (Gump) now had two children: Mollie (fourteen) and Jerome (six months).

Title : Baltimore, Maryland, City Directory, 1880
Source Information
Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.

The 1880s saw the Mansbach family suffer two big losses. First on April 3, 1883, Marum Mansbach died at age 83. The German-language newspaper for Baltimore, the Deutsche Correspondent, ran this obituary and burial notice on April 5 and 6, respectively:

marum-mansbach-second-article-april-5-1883-deutsche-correspondent-baltimore

Der Deutsche Correspondent – 5 Apr 1883, Thu – Page 4

As translated by those at German Genealogy Facebook group, the obituary reads:

Death of a well-known old German man. One of the oldest Jewish men in Baltimore, Marum Mansbach, died of throat cancer in his 83rd year, on Monday evening at the house of his son-in-law G. Gump, 26 South Green St/Rd. Mr Mansbach was born in Maden, Electorate of Hessen, and came to Philadelphia in 1865. From Philadelphia he moved to Cumberland, Md, and then ten years ago he moved here with his son-in-law. His wife died 43 years ago, leaving him three children who are still alive, sons A. and H. Mansback and Mrs Henriette Gump. The elder of the sons runs a Whiskey wholesalers with his brother-in-law Mr Gump, and the younger has settled in Wheeling, W.-V. The funeral will take place this morning at 10 am at the cemetery of the Hanover St/Rd Synagogue.

marum-mansbach-death-notice-april-1883-deutsche-correspondent-baltimore

Der Deutsche Correspondent – 6 Apr 1883, Fri – Page 4

The burial notice was translated to say:

Burial. – The mortal remains of Marum Mansbach were taken yesterday morning from the house of his son-in-law G. Gump, 26 South Greene Road, to his final resting place in the Jewish cemetery on Trapp Road, accompanied by numerous mourners. Rabbi Dr Szold gave a moving funeral address. Pall-bearers were H. Hamburger, N. Frank, J. Eisenberg, S. Dettinger, M. Kaufmann and B. Brettenheimer

Then, just four years later on November 18, 1887, Marum’s son Abraham Mansbach, the first of my Katzenstein relatives to come to the US, died unexpectedly while on business in Virginia. His obituary ran in English in The Baltimore Sun and in German in the Deutsche Correspondent:

Der Deutsche Correspondent – 21 Nov 1887 – Page 4

Here is a translation of the German version:

At the age of 53 years, on Friday morning, Abraham Mansbach, the senior member of the local spirits company, Mansbach and Gump, died very unexpectedly in Culpeper, Virginia, where he had been engaged in business affairs yesterday for eight days. On Thursday he had written to his business partner, Mr. Gabriel Gump, that he was perfectly well; on Friday, however, the named gentleman received a telegram, saying that Herr Mansbach was seriously ill, and then in the afternoon he received a second telegram, which reported his death. His nephew, Mr. Harry Gump, went to Culpeper, accompanied by Alexander Wegner, a long-time friend of the deceased, to fetch the corpse with which they returned the same night. Mr. Mansbach came from Germany and came to America as a young man, where he first ran a dry goods business in Philadelphia; later, however, he moved to Baltimore, and since 1873 has been involved in the trade of spirits. He was particularly well known for his great kindness, and belonged to several societies, including the “Legion of Honor”, the “Ber. Works” and the “Royal Arcanum-Lodge.”

The English version says essentially the same thing:

The Baltimore Sun – 19 Nov 1887, Sat – Page 4

Abraham Mansbach was survived by his wife, Eliza, his daughter, Mollie, age 21, and his son Jerome, who was nine years old.

Then six years after Abraham’s death, his sister Henrietta died on March 15, 1893. She was sixty-one years old and was survived by her husband Gabriel Gump and their four adult sons, Abraham, Louis, Harry and Joseph.

henrietta-mansbach-gump-death-notice-1893

Baltimore Sun, March 16, 1893, p. 4

Gabriel Gump and his sister Eliza Gump Mansbach were thus both widowed by 1893, and H.H. Mansbach had lost his father, his brother, and his sister in the ten year period starting in 1883. Although it is hard to know exactly what relationship H.H. had with his family of origin by then, it nevertheless must have been sad for him to lose them all within such a short period of time.

More on what happened to the families of Henrietta, Abraham, and HH in the 20^th century in posts to follow.

[1] Sailing with Marum were two young women: Bertha, age 24, and Elise, age 17. I’ve not yet determined who they were and what relationship they might have had to Marum.

The Katzenstein Clan: Who Got Here First?

Posted on November 14, 2016 by Amy

One of the main questions I had about Gerson Katzenstein, my great-great-grandfather, was why did he come to the United States? Did he have other relatives who had paved the way, or was he the first in his family to arrive?

When I first did some research about Gerson almost five years ago, I was unable to find any relatives aside from his wife and children, and so I had no information about the rest of his family. But thanks to the work of Barbara Greve and David Baron, I now have a long list of names of relatives, including the names of Gerson’s siblings. I thought that there might have been other relatives living in the United States when Gerson arrived that I’d not known about during my initial research several years ago.

What I learned from Barbara Greve’s work was that Gerson was one of the eight children of Scholem Katzenstein; there were four half-siblings born to Scholem’s first wife, Gella: Hannchen (1798-1840), Mendel, who died as an infant in 1799, Jacob (1803-?), and Gela, who also died as an infant in 1808. Gerson had three full siblings born to his mother, Breine Blumenfeld: Freudchen (1809-1818), Rahel (1813-1861), and Moses, for whom the only record is a birth record dated November 4, 1814. Perhaps Moses also had died as an infant. Thus, of the eight children of Scholem Katzenstein, the only ones for whom there are records indicating survival to adulthood are Gerson, Hannchen, Jacob, and Rahel.

Gerson’s birth is recorded as somewhere between 1811 and 1815, depending on the source. He married Eva Goldschmidt of Oberlistingen sometime before 1848, when their first child, Scholem, was born in Jesberg. Two more children followed, Jacob in 1851 and Brendina (Branche in German—presumably named for Gerson’s mother) in 1853.

Gerson, Eva, and their three children left Germany and arrived in New York City on July 3, 1856. On the ship manifest, Gerson listed his occupation as a butcher and their final destination as Philadelphia.

Gerson Katzenstein and family on 1856 ship manifest
Year: 1856; Arrival: New York, New York; Microfilm Serial: M237, 1820-1897; Microfilm Roll: Roll 164; Line: 1; List Number: 589

Just a little over a month later, Eva gave birth to their fourth child, Perry, who was born in Philadelphia on August 19, 1856. Eva had obviously been far into her pregnancy when they left Germany. Why did they leave then? Why did they go to Philadelphia? Was there another family member there? Had any of Gerson’s siblings preceded them? Or a cousin?[i] Did his wife Eva have family there?

I knew that Eva Goldschmidt had relatives already in the US. Her uncle Simon Goldschmidt had arrived in 1845 with his wife Fradchen Schoenthal, who was the aunt of Eva’s future son-in-law, Isidore Schoenthal, my great-grandfather. They were living in Pittsburgh in 1850. In 1860, Simon, at that point a widower, was living with his son Jacob in Washington, Pennsylvania. But no one from the Goldschmidt family was living in Philadelphia in 1856 when Gerson and Eva and their family arrived, at least as far as I can tell.

I decided to look more closely at Gerson’s siblings to see whether they or their children had emigrated. According to the work done by Barbara Greve and David Baron, Gerson’s half-brother Jacob married Sarchen Lion in 1829 in Jesberg, and they had nine children: Gelle (1829), presumably named for Jacob’s deceased mother, Michaele (1832), Schalum (1834); Rebecca (1826), Johanna (1838), Pauline (1841), Baruch (1844), Meier (1849), and Levi (1851). From the Greve/Baron research, it appears that neither Jacob nor any of these children left Germany.

As for Gerson’s sister, Rahel, she married Jacob Katz, and they had six children: Blumchen (1838), Moses (1839), Meier (1842), Abraham (1852), Samuel (1853), and Sanchen (1854). Of these six children, only Abraham and Samuel emigrated from Germany. According to the 1900 census, Abraham immigrated to the United States in 1872, many years after Gerson’s departure from Jesberg; he lived in Kentucky for many years.

Abraham J Katz and family 1900 US census Year: 1900; Census Place: Louisville Ward 5, Jefferson, Kentucky; Roll: 530; Page: 3A; Enumeration District: 0053; FHL microfilm: 1240530

Abraham J Katz and family 1900 US census, line 39
Year: 1900; Census Place: Louisville Ward 5, Jefferson, Kentucky; Roll: 530; Page: 3A; Enumeration District: 0053; FHL microfilm: 1240530

Samuel also emigrated in 1872, and also lived in Kentucky before moving and settling in Omaha, Nebraska. Rahel’s other four children did not leave Germany, although some of the next generation did. Both Samuel and Abraham thus arrived in the United States long after their uncle Gerson had emigrated in 1856, and they settled far from Philadelphia where their uncle was living.

Samuel Katz 1905 passport application
National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington D.C.; NARA Series: Passport Applications, 1795-1905; Roll #: 669; Volume #: Roll 669 – 01 Feb 1905-28 Feb 1905

The remaining sibling who survived to adulthood was Gerson’s half-sister, Hannchen. She married Marum Mansbach, who was from Maden, Germany, which is where Hannchen and Marum lived after marrying. They had three children born in Maden: Gelle (later Henrietta) (b. 1833), Abraham (b. 1835), and Hendel (later Harry) (b. 1840). Hannchen died the day Harry was born, so Marum was left with three young children including a newborn to raise on his own. These children and their father ended up in the US, but when had they emigrated? Were they the ones who led the way for Gerson, Eva, and their children in 1856?

I went back to look at the documents relating to Gerson that I’d collected years back, and I started with the ship manifest pictured above. This time I noticed something I’d not seen before. Right below the family of Gerson Katzenstein were the names of two more people: Heinemann Mansbach, a sixteen year old male who was a peddler and headed for “Libanon,” and Malchen Mansbach, a sixteen year old female headed to Baltimore. Both were from Maden, Germany.

Ship manifest close up
Year: 1856; Arrival: New York, New York; Microfilm Serial: M237, 1820-1897; Microfilm Roll: Roll 164; Line: 1; List Number: 589

I hadn’t seen any connection to the Katzensteins originally since the two Mansbachs were from Maden, not Jesberg, and because they were headed to different cities, not Philadelphia. Plus I had no reason to see any connection to anyone named Mansbach. But now, thanks to the Greve/Baron work, I knew that Gerson had a niece and nephew from Maden with the surname Mansbach. Could Heinemann Mansbach be the person known later as Harry Mansbach? Could Malchen Mansbach be Henrietta, his older sister? She would have been 23 in 1856, not 16, but perhaps she, like so many others, had lied about her age. Or could this be an entirely different Mansbach not even related to Gerson Katzenstein?

And was there anyone from the Mansbach family already in the US, and if so, where? Why was Malchen going to Baltimore and Heinemann to “Libanon”? And where is “Libanon”? There is a Lebanon, Pennsylvania about 90 miles west of Philadelphia, so perhaps that is where Heinemann was headed. But why? A search of the 1860 census for Lebanon, PA, for those born in Germany did not uncover anyone who appears to have been connected to the Mansbach/Katzenstein family.

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Lebanon County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Then I wondered about Hannchen Katzenstein and Marum Mansbach’s older son Abraham. Where was he when his brother was apparently sailing with their uncle Gerson? I searched for him and found an Abraham Mansbach on an 1852 ship manifest; no age was given, but he was a merchant from Hesse. The ship arrived in Baltimore on December 14, 1852. Gerson’s nephew Abraham Mansbach would have been seventeen in 1852. This could have been him.

Abraham Mansbach on 1852 passenger list “Maryland, Baltimore Passenger Lists, 1820-1948,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1961-32011-12875-22?cc=2018318 : 25 September 2015), 1820-1891 (NARA M255, M596) > 9 – Jun 2, 1852-Aug 29, 1853 > image 503 of 890; citing NARA microfilm publications M255, M596 and T844 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

Abraham Mansbach 1852 immigration card “Maryland, Baltimore Passenger Lists Index, 1820-1897,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1942-37337-15431-34?cc=2173933 : 17 June 2014), NARA M327, Roll 98, No. M462-M524, 1820-1897 > image 2545 of 3335; citing NARA microfilm publication M327 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

So perhaps Abraham Mansbach, Gerson’s nephew, was the first of the Katzenstein clan to come to the US. I don’t know whether he stayed in Baltimore or not, but by 1860, it appears that he was living in Philadelphia with his uncle Gerson and the other members of the Katzenstein family:

Gerson Katzenstein and family 1860 US census
Year: 1860; Census Place: Philadelphia Ward 13, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: M653_1163; Page: 519; Image: 105; Family History Library Film: 805163

Gerson was working as a salesman and had a personal estate worth $400. He and Eva had had a fifth child, Hannah, who was a year old. Their oldest child Scholem was now using the name Joe and was twelve years old; Jacob was nine, Brendina was six, and Perry was three.

Gerson Katzenstein in the 1859 Philadelphia directory

Living with them were a seventeen year old clerk named Benjamin Levi and a 24 year old bookkeeper named David Frank. In addition, there was a 25 year old salesman named Abraham Anspach; this could have been Abraham Mansbach, Gerson’s nephew. Finally, there was a twenty year old domestic named “Marley Manspach;” perhaps this was the same person as the Malchen Mansbach who was listed on the ship manifest.

Closeup of Katzensteins and Mansbachs on 1860 census

But was Malchen/Marley really the daughter named Henrietta who would have been 29 in 1860, not 20? And where was Heinemann/Harry living if not with his brother and uncle? It’s too bad that the 1860 census did not include information about the relationships among those living in a household. That might have cleared some of this up.

But what did seem clear was that by 1860 my Katzenstein great-great-grandparents and the first four of their children were living in Philadelphia. It also seemed likely that at least two of the children of Gerson’s half-sister Hannchen and her husband Marum Mansbach had also arrived in the United States by then.

But many questions remained. Fortunately, David Baron helped me find some answers.

**************************

I admit that it’s been hard for me to get back into genealogy right now, but I am trying to find ways to deal with all my anger and grief, and while I look for ways of fighting back against Trumpism, I also am trying to find ways of clearing my head. Genealogy has done that for me before, and I am hoping it will help me now. This post was written before the election, and now I am trying to work on the next one.

[i] I also went through the rest of the family report prepared by David Baron to see if any of the more distant Katzenstein or Katz relatives had arrived in the US before 1856. There were none who arrived that early, although there were a few who were in the US by the 1890s and more who came after Hitler came to power.

Introducing The Katz and Katzenstein Families of Jesberg

Posted on November 7, 2016 by Amy

According to the work done by David Baron, the earliest known Jesberg Katz/enstein ancestor was Bonum Katz ,who was also known as Pinchas ha Kohen. Those two surnames actually share the same meaning and origins. The name “Katz” is an acronym for Kohen Tzedek or “priest of justice” in Hebrew and is another name like Cohen usually indicating that the father’s family descended from the Cohanim, the priestly tribe traced back to Aaron, Moses’ brother. It is a fairly common Jewish surname as is Cohen.

All I know about Bonum Katz is that he died in Jesberg sometime after 1720 and that he had at least two children: a son named Schalum Ha Cohen, and a daughter named Jitl Katz. I don’t know when or where Pinchas was born, what he did for a living, who he married, or when he died.

Deutsch: Reste der Allee im Prinzessingarten bei Jesberg (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Nor do I know very much about his son Schalum, though I know a little more about him than I do about Pinchas. According to the research done by David Baron, Schalum was born about 1720 in Jesberg and died there on February 3, 1774. He married a woman named Brendelchen, who was born in Treysa, Germany, and who died on May 17, 1776, in Jesberg.

According to David Baron, Schalum and Brendelchen had at least two children: my 4^th great-grandfather, Meier Katz, born sometime before 1744, in Jesberg, and his brother Schneuer ha Kohen, also known as Salomon Katz, born in Jesberg on November 11, 1752.[1] Salomon had ten children with two different wives.

Barbara Greve disagrees with David Baron as to whether or not the Katzenstein line began with Bonum Katz; she believes that that line is separate from the Katzenstein line. Whereas David believes that Schalum and Brendelchen had two sons, Salomon and Meier, Barbara believes that Meier was not their son but part of a separate family. I have at this point no way of knowing who is right and thus have included both views here for the moment. If Barbara is right, my Katzenstein line would begin with Meier Katz.

Meier Katz, my four times great-grandfather, only had one child: my third great-grandfather Abraham Schalom Ha Cohen, also known as Scholem Meier Katzenstein. It is interesting that whereas Meier used the surname Katz, his son Scholem used Katzenstein.

Deutsch: Burg Jesberg (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Scholem Meier Katzenstein, my third great-grandfather, thus may have been the first in my direct line to use the name Katzenstein. He was born in September 1769 and died on October 13, 1826, in Jesberg. He was an “Ellenwarenhandler,” according to Barbara Greve. Thanks to the help of the German Genealogy group on Facebook, I learned that Ellenwarenhandler is a term that was used to describe someone who sold dry goods according to specific measurements.

Scholem Katzenstein was married twice, first to Gella Katz (Katten) in January 1795 in Jesberg.[2] Gella died on January 31, 1808, after giving birth to her fourth child with Scholem, Gela. The four children born to Gella and Scholem Meier were Hannchen (1798-1840), Mendel (1799-1799), Jacob (1803-1880), and Gela (1808-1808). Only Hannchen and Jacob survived infancy.

Scholem remarried on September 29, 1808; his second wife was my third-great-grandmother, Breine Katz Blumenfeld. She was born in Momberg, Germany, and David Baron thought was she probably the daughter of Abraham Katz Blumenfeld, and Geidel Katz, who would thus be my fourth-great-grandparents.

Deutsch: Gilsabrücke in Jesberg (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Scholem and Breine had four children. The first was Freudchen, born on November 4 1809 in Jesberg; she died September 8, 1818 when she was not yet nine years old.

A second daughter, Rahel, was born on January 15, 1813, in Jesberg. She married Jacob Katz, also of Jesberg; he and Rahel were cousins. Jacob was the great-grandson of Bonum Katz; Rahel was the great-great-grandaughter of Bonum Katz. Thus, Rahel and Jacob were second cousins, once removed. Rahel and Jacob had five children. Rahel died on December 7, 1861, in Jesberg.

(Since Barbara Greve believes that Bonum Katz was not the great-great-grandfather of Rahel, this statement may not be correct. For the moment I will let it stand, subject to change.)

Scholem and Breine also had a son named Moses, who was born in Jesberg on November 4, 1814. There was no further information about Moses on David’s family tree.

But most important to me was the remaining child of Scholem and Breine, Gerson Katzenstein, my great-great-grandfather. Although most American records have Gerson’s birth year at roughly 1815, the German records show that he was born on August 11, 1811, making him the second oldest child and oldest son of Scholem and Breine. Since Freudchen had died as a child, Gerson was effectively the oldest child, assuming that the Jesberg record as transcribed is more accurate than the US records.

So where do I begin to tell the story of this large family that extends back 300 years? I think it makes sense to start with my great-great-grandfather Gerson Katzenstein and his siblings.

[1] Given the seven year age gap between Salomon and Meier, it seems likely that Schalum and Brendelchen had other children who have not yet been found; the 1744 Jesberg census, for example, lists another son named Mendel, but no other information about him has been found.

[2] Despite the Katz surname, it does not appear that Gella was closely related to the Jesberg Katz/Katzenstein family as she was born in Halsdorf, another Hessian town; but given the marriage patterns in these families, there is likely some connection.

Brotmanblog: A Family Journey

Adventures in Genealogy

Tag Archives: genealogy

The Blessings and Curses of Census Records: Was Francis Wetherill Still Alive?

My Father Wasn’t Wrong

Aunt Dean: A Long and Difficult Life

My Great-Great-Aunt Dean: The Story of A Strong Woman

After the Flood, More Tears

Who Was Ella Bohm Katzenstein? A Genealogy Adventure

Of Rabbit Holes and Twisted Trees and the Curse of Endogamy

After the Civil War: Did the Mansbach Family Come Together?

The Katzenstein Clan: Who Got Here First?

Introducing The Katz and Katzenstein Families of Jesberg

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